THE SOFTEST DOUGHNUTS EVER!

 

I’ve never been this excited about getting a dish right. Even as I type this post, I want to get up and do a little victory jig.

Skip LOVES doughnuts. He isn’t very fussy and I’ve seen him relish even those that taste and look like stale buns. His favourite are the Krispy Kreme ones.

On his birthday in May, since he couldn’t have a birthday party with his friends, I decided to make it special by making doughnuts at home. I didn’t have yeast so I got the recipe of an eggless doughnut without yeast.

While I kneaded the dough, I visualised the outcome and the priceless look of joy on my son’s face when he would see home cooked doughnuts on his birthday. The dough was very sticky and I wondered if the quantity of milk was mentioned right in the recipe. I kept adding additional flour to make the dough pliable and admired the smooth, round dough I had kneaded. I cut them out into the required shape, fried them, let them cool and dipped them in chocolate. I knew the recipe had gone wrong, the minute I dropped the doughnuts on a steel plate and I heard the loud plonk!

The doughnuts turned out dense and hard (and there were so many).

I had been toiling in the kitchen for hours, baking and frying and kneading and cooking and all I wanted was to make the perfect doughnut for Skip. As I offered one to taste, I teared up and announced these were terrible doughnuts. Exhaustion caught up and I plonked myself on the sofa, landing with a soft plop unlike my tough doughnut.

Sky chewed his share unblinkingly ( I mean this literally) which is always a sign of food not tasting good. Skip ate his and looked at me in surprise, “Whyyy? These doughnuts taste so good”.

In the evening, after Skip cut his birthday cake, he said he would eat just cake and the doughnuts because he needed more space in his tummy for the world’s best doughnuts.

.

.

.

While Skip may have said so, they clearly weren’t.

For the past two weeks, I have been having cooking fails even with the simplest recipes. So when I decided to make doughnuts (with yeast) I wondered if that was a wise decision.

I got the recipe from Emma’s Goodies.

While I was kneading the sticky dough, I thought of how simple it would have been to just place an order for Krispy Kreme doughnuts on Swiggy. As I was grunting and kneading the dough, R reminded me of the birthday doughnuts.

As I took the fried doughnuts off the pan, I knew they had come out perfect. I patiently waited for the chocolate glaze to cool, clicked pictures and took one to share with Skip and Sky.

These were the softest, fluffiest, tastiest doughnuts ever! These did melt in the mouth. I broke out into a Kodava dance.

I am so excited about this recipe, I have been asking everybody to try it. Please do share the pictures of the doughnuts if you make them and I shall share it on my Facebook and Instagram pages  

 

DOUGHNUTS WITH CHOCOLATE GLAZE (with yeast) (makes 18)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida) – 280 gms (2 cups)

Granulated sugar – 40 gms (3 tbsp)

Salt – ¼ tsp

Grated nutmeg – ¼ tsp (optional)

Warm Milk – 120 ml (1/2 cup) ( you may require 2-3 tbsp extra)

Egg - 1

Melted butter – 40 gms

Dry yeast – 7 gms

Glaze:

Cream – 50 gms

Dark chocolate bar – 50 gms

 

Method:

 

1.     In a bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and grated nutmeg and mix well.

2.     In a separate bowl, add warm milk, egg, melted butter and yeast. Mix it well.

3.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix the dough well until no dry ingredients remain. I used a spatula. (The dough will be soft and very sticky) (Add more milk (2-3 tbsp) if you feel the need).

4.     Pour a little oil on the kneading surface, place the dough and knead well for about 10 -15 minutes. You may add a tablespoon more of flour if you are finding the dough difficult to work with (DO NOT ADD MORE). Use a dough scraper (or spatula) to keep scraping off the sticky bits. The dough will be elastic and soft and will keep getting stickier.

5.     Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover it with either a plastic wrap or damp muslin cloth and set aside in a warm place for about 1 ½ - 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

6.     Flour your work surface. Take the dough and place it on the floured surface. Add a little flour on the dough and press it down with your fingers. Roll it out with a rolling pin to ½ inch thickness and cut out the doughnut shape. ( I used a small bowl and a bottle lid).

7.     Place these doughnuts on a greased surface and let it rise again for about 20 -30 minutes.

8.     Heat oil in a deep bottomed dish. Lift the doughnuts gently and place it in the oil (the oil shouldn’t be too hot) the doughnuts should bubble gently. Do not fry the doughnuts for too long. Fry on both sides for  few minutes and set it aside.

9.     For the glaze: warm the cream. Take it off the flame and add the chocolate bar. Mix it well until it melts.

10. Once the doughnuts have cooled, dip the top into the glaze. Place the doughnuts on a wire rack and let the glaze set.

11. Done.

 

Recipe Notes:

• The dough MUST be sticky. DO NOT be tempted to add more flour. (You may add just one tablespoon more).
•   I do not have a dough scraper so I used a spatula while kneading the dough and it was quite helpful.
•   I did not have nutmeg, so I used cinnamon powder.